The National Trust has recently celebrated its centenary. Set up by three far-sighted Victorians in 1895 to protect places of historic interest or natural beauty, it has over the past hundred years grown from a tiny group into one of the world's leading conservation organisations. The Trust now looks after over 500,000 acres of coast and countryside in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, 200 historic houses and 150 great gardens, with the support of over 2.4 million members, and a huge number of volunteers who put in over a million hours of help each year.The National Trust is full of surprises, for as well as the houses, gardens and countryside, it looks after all kind of oddities, such as Gondola, a Victorian, Venetian-style steam yacht that plies Coniston Water in Cumbria, and the rock houses of Kinver Edge in Staffordshire, until recently home to a cave-dwelling community. Read Less